Hollow textile spindle



Nov. 24, 1964 A. E. E. KELECOM 3,157,980

HOLLOW TEXTILE SPINDLE Filed May 23 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG ndl e Edmond [8 Eugene Ke/ecom INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Nov. 24, 1964 KEI-ECOM 3,157,980

HOLLOW TEXTILE SPINDLE Filed May 23 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 29 /5 Anq're' Edmond 26 Eugene Ke/ecom INNENTOR ATTORN EYS Nov. 24, 1964 A. E. E. KELECOM HOLLOW TEXTILE SPINDLE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 25 1963 m mm 09 my K E oennu W a m n 4 y 7 xx M ME A.

A fi=n 1 1 i km INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Nov. 24, 1964 A. E. E. KELECOM HOLLOW TEXTILE SPINDLE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 23 1963 And e'Edmona' gene Ke/ecom I NVE NTOR ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,157,080 HOLLUW TEXTELE SPINDLE Andre Edmond Eugene Kelecom, Uncle, Beiginm, assignor to UCB (Union Chimique-Chemrsche Bedrifiven), 8A., a corporation of Belgium Filed May 23, 1963, Ser. No. 282,763 Claims priority, application Belgium, May 28, 1962, 618,171; Oct. 25, 1962, 624,035

' 11 Ciaims. (Cl. 57--18) This invention relates to a hollow textile spindle and is more particularly concerned with a hollow spindle of the kind used in thread covering machines for passing, a thread to be covered, through the spindle.

With conventional solid spindles, speeds of rotation higher than 10,000 revolutions a minute can be obtained by giving suflicient resiliency to the spindle bearings. The construction most generally adopted comprises a rigid upper bearing, or one only slightly resilient, and a bottom bearing possessing considerable resiliency and adequate damping. The most suitable systems are those in which the damping efiect increases with the speed of revolution of the spindle and with the amplitude of the vibrations. Damping by means of fluids or of substantially elastic materials comply particularly well with this condition.

However, systems in which damping is effected by means of, for example, oil have not so far been capable of use in the case of hollow textile spindles, since the thread, as it passes through the spindle, is exposed to soiling by the oil. Moreover, with the conventional hollow spindles, it is not possible to exceed 5,000 revolutions a minute.

The present invention aims at obviating this limitation of speed in the case of hollow spindles, by facilitating the use of resiliently mounted bearings provided with oil dampers.

The present invention relates to a hollow textile spindle, comprising an upper bearing, a resiliently mounted bottom bearing provided with fluid damping, a cover member for said bottom bearing and adapted to receive the damping fluid, and a tube secured centrally in the cover member and extending into the interior of the spindle to a height above the level of the fluid contained in the cover member and submerging the bottom bearing. By virtue of this arrangement the thread passing through the bore of the spindle is prevented from coming into contact with the damping fluid, such as oil, or with any lubricated surfaces.

Advantageously, the resiliently mounted bottom bearing is constituted by a combined thrust and needle hearing or a conventional ball bearing.

Although provision of these hearings is advantageous from the point of view of lubrication, the instability of the spindle, such as, vibrations, precession, and nutation is caused by the rubbing of the non-rotating portion of the thrust hearing or of the roller or ball bearing against the spindle support. Rubbing is unavoidable because the weight of the rotating portion is transmitted to the spindle support through the thrust hearing.

If the ball or roller bearing or the thrust bearing is just level with the oil, an oil mist may form there, resulting in a loss of oil.

In addition, the rotation in oil of a thrust hearing or a ball or roller bearing entails a considerable consumption of driving power.

In the case of hollow spindles it is thus preferred to employ thrust bearings for the upper bearing of the spindle and plain or sliding bearings for the bottom bearing.

More particularly it is an object of the present invention that the resiliently mounted bottom bearing is constituted by a conventional plain bearing and that the upper hearing of the spindle is able to carry thrust loads and at the same time is providing a self-aligning feature, for example a bearing of the self-aligning swivel ball or roller type. This allows a balancing movement with a minimum of friction.

The upper bearing may also be constituted by a plain bearing.

The resilient mounting of the bottom bearing is preferably effected by means of spring or springs.

The use of a plain bottom bearing immersed in oil requires minimum consumption of driving power.

At the level of the oil surface the stem of the spindle is perfectly smooth; no oil mist formation occurs.

Moreover, there is no friction at the bottom part between bearing and bush, so that the damping of vibrations is due solely to the action of the spring and of the oil.

This solution is considered to be highly advantageous for damping textile spindles and also constitutes a characteristic of the invention.

In order that the invention may be more readily un-' derstood, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate diagrammatically and by way of example, several embodiments thereof, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is an axial section of a spindle in accordance with the present invention and comprising a resiliently mounted bottom thrust bearing combined with a needle bearing, the two sides of the bearing mounting showing respectively different constructions thereof.

FIGURE 2 is a View similar to that of FIGURE 1 of another embodiment of the invention having the bottom bearing constituted by a conventional ball bearing, and

FIGURES 3 and 4 show further embodiments of the invention wherein the bottom and top bearings are respectively constituted by a plain bearing and a self-aligning spindle 1 is provided with an axial bore 2, the latterserving for passing therethrough of a thread (not shown) to be covered, for example, on a thread covering machine, The lower portion of the bore 2 is of increased diameter and is connected to the smaller diameter portion by a tapered or conical surface 4. The increased diameter portion permits the introduction thereinto of a tempered steel tube 3 (FIG. 1), the portion of which extending beyond the base of the spindle 1 serves as inner race for the needle bearing of a combined thrust and needle bearing 6, 12. The upper spindle bearing is constituted by a plain bearing 5 which is held in a fixed bracket or support member '7 for the spindle. In order to receivethe bottom bearing 6, 12 with sutficient clearance the base 8 of the bracket 7 is counterbored at 9. The base 8 is further screw-threaded at 10 to permit the screwing-on of a cover member 11 which carries centrally a fixedly mounted, finish ground tube 13 of comparatively small diameter. The cover member 11 serves to support the bearings 6, 12 and is adapted to receive damping fluid such as oil. The upper race of the thrust bearing 12 is rigidly connected to the tube 3 which in this embodiment forms an extension of the spindle 1. The tube 13 extends into the spindle tube 3 to a height substantially greater than that of the oil level 14 in the bottom bearings.

The damping of the vibrations of the bearing 6 may be effected by known means, two of which are illustrated on the two sides of the spindle axis in FIGURE 1. According to one of these means, a spiral spring 15 is wound around the cylindrical portion of the bearing 6 and is immersed in the oil. The immersed spring permits damped oscillations of the hearing while preventing it from being driven rotationally by the spindle. According to another of these means, three hollow screws 16 are screwed into the cover member 11, said screws being spaced at 120 from one another. By means of helical springs 17 inserted into the bores of the screws 16 the latter urge cylinders 18 mounted in the screws 16 against the bearing 6.

The cylinders 18 are provided with calibrated orifices 19 through which the oil is throttled to eiiect the damping of the bearing vibrations.

The aperture 20 provided in the bracket 7 permits introduction of driving means (not shown) for imparting rotational movement to the spindle 1.

In the embodiment of FIGURE 2 the combined thrust and needle bearing of FIGURE 1 has been replaced by a conventional ball bearing generally used for hollow spindles. The tube 3 of FIGURE 1 is dispensed with and instead the bottom end of the spindle 1 is screwthreaded at 1' to receive a nut 21 serving to urge the inner ball race 22 against the shoulder 23 of the spindle 1. The screw-threaded base 8 of the fixed bracket 7 receives, in this embodiment, a ring 24 inside which there are provided two circular projections 25 and 26. On the projection 25 rests a ring 27 which supports a sleeve member comprising two cylindrical portions 28 and 29 of different diameters. The top portion 25 encloses the outer race 30 of the ball bearing, while a spiral spring 15' of known type is wound around the outer periphery of the bottom portion 29. The spring 15 is similarly immersed in the oil and effects the damping of the vibrations of the ball bearing 22, 36.

A cover member 11, for example, of Plexiglas is slidable on the ring 24 and is held in position by a spring 31, which in turn is fixed to the support 7 by a screw 32 accommodated in a widened portion of the cover 11.

As in the previous embodiment the cover 11' carries a polished tube 13 of small diameter serving to guide the thread to a point near the smaller diameter portion of the spindle bore, thus preventing the thread from coming into contact with the oil contained in the Plexiglas cover, the level of which is indicated at 14.

The hollow spindle of FIGURE 3 is again supported in a fixed bracket 7 the base 8 of which is closed by the cover member 11 screwable onto the portion 10 of the base 8 and receiving the oil up to the level 14. The lower part 2' of the axial spindle bore 2 is tapered, the larger diameter being at the free lower end of the spindle. This construction prevents the oil contained in the cover member 11 from coming into contact with the thread which passes through the fixed tube 13 and the bore 2 in the spindle.

The cover member 11 contains the spring 15 which provides a damped resilient connection to the bush 33 serving as plain bearing for the bottom end 1 of the spindle 1.

By virtue of its resiliency, the spring 15 urges the spindle towards the centre of the bush 33 and of the cover member 11. The provision of oil between the very closely spaced turns of this spring has a braking effect, and the two eifects combined effectively stabilize the spindle. The bottom bearing is completed by two drop breakers 34 and a washer 35 which substantially prevent the oil from passing out by direct projection. A final drop breaker 36 ensures the centrifuging of any oil which may have passed between the washer 35 and the spindle 1.

The cylindrical portion 1 of the spindle 1 constitutes the wharve and serves to drive the spindle driving means (not shown) received through the opening 20 in member 7.

The upper bearing of the spindle is of a known type capable of simultaneously acting as thrust and swivel hearing, which is represented in the figure by a selfaligning swivel ball bearing 37, mounted with hard triction on the spindle 1. The bearing 37 is centered in the bore 38 of the upper portion of the spindle support 7 by means of two rings 39 which serve as grease-box and are made of material providing acoustic insulation. The stamped gutter 40 receives the grease which might escape at the bottom part of the hearing. The whole assembly is held in place in the bore 38 by the cover 41 fixed to the spindle support by two or three screws, one of which is indicated at 42.

Instead of the self-aligning swivel ball bearing, use could be made of a swivel roller bearing, a deep groove bearing with an outer race of spherical shape enclosed in a housing of the same shape, a deep groove bearing enclosed in a box of elastic material which through its deformation permits the desired swivel joint etfect, or else recourse could be had to a plain bearing of spherical shape with one-piece or two-piece bush, or any other arrangement acting at the same time as hearing and as thrust, while permanently permitting the swivel joint effect with a minimum of friction.

According to FIGURE 4, the hollow spindle 1 is provided with the cylindrical bore 2 which has an enlarged diameter portion 2' connected to the bore 2 by a conical surface 4. This arrangement enables the tube 13 fixed in the cover member 11 to penetrate into the bottom portion of the spindle 1 with a clearance permitting the spindle to effect lateral displacements and to a height considerably greater than the level 14 of the oil contained in the cover member and submerging the bottom bearing.

This bore 2' is tapered having its diameter increasing towards the bottom end, this preventing the oil contained in the cover member 11 from coming into contact with the thread which passes through the fixed tube 13 and the bore 2 in the hollow spindle.

The bottom bearing is supported by the cover member 11' which also houses the spring 15 which provides a damped resilient connection to a bush 33' serving as plain bearing for the bottom end 1" of the spindle 1.

By virtue of its resiliency, the spring 15 urges the spindle towards the centre of the cover member 11'. The provision of oil between the very closely spaced turns of this spring causes a braking effect and the two effects combined effectively stabilize the spindle.

Below the upper bearing 17 the spindle 1 is tapered so as to bring oil to said bearing for lubrication. Above the upper bearing the spindle may be of any shape, and in FIGURE 4 it is again tapered.

The cover member 11 is screw-threaded at 43 to permit the screwing-on of a nut and lock-nut assembly 44 ensuring the fixing of the cover member 11 on a board 45. Two sets 46 each comprising a steel washer and a rubber washer, placed one on each side of the board 45, respectively abut against a fixed support 7, which screwably, receives the cover member 11', and against the nut and lock-nut assembly 44.

This arrangement provides semi-rigid fixing of the cover member 11' on the board 45, while ensuring satisfactory acoustic insulation.

The wharve 47 is operatively connected to the spindle and serves for imparting rotational movement thereto.

The upper spindle bearing 17 is of a type similar to the upper bearing provided in the embodiment of FIGURE 3. When the support 7' is screwed down on the cover member 11 it holds the bearing in position. The top 7 of the support 7' has a bore diameter which is larger than the diameter of the spindle by only a few tenths of a millimeter, to prevent any loss of oil.

I claim:

1. A textile spindle comprising a hollow vertically mounted spindle, an upper thrust and seif-aligning bearing for said spindle, a resiliently mounted bottom hearing for'said spindle, a cover member for said bottom bearing in which said bottom bearing is mounted to receive damping fluid covering said bottom bearing, and a tube mounted centrally in said cover member and extending into the interior of said hollow spindle to a height above the level of the fiuid contained in said cover member.

2. A spindle according to claim 1, wherein said upper 5 bearing is of the self-aligning swivel ball bearing type and is capable of supporting thrust loads.

3. A spindle according to claim 1, wherein a fixed support member for said spindle is provided to support said resiliently mounted bottom bearing and said cover is mounted on said fixed support member.

4. A spindle as set forth in claim 1 wherein a mounting board is provided and a fixed support mounted upon said mounting board is provided for said spindle and said cover is secured to said fixed support.

5. A spindle as set forth in claim 1 wherein said bottom bearing is resiliently mounted by a spiral spring.

6. A spindle as set forth is claim 1 wherein said upper bearing is provided with sound insulating means.

7. A spindle according to claim 1, wherein said bottom bearing is a plain bearing resiliently mounted by a spring.

8. A textile spindle comprising a hollow vertically mounted spindle, an upper bearing for said spindle, a

resiliently mounted bottom bearing for said spindle, a cover member for said bottom bearing in which said bottom bearing is mounted to receive damping fluid covering said bottom bearing, and a tube mounted centrally in said cover member and extending into the interior of said hollow spindle to a height above the level of the fluid contained in said cover member.

9. A spindle according to claim 8, wherein said upper 6 bearing is of the self-aligning swivel roller bearing type and is capable of supporting thrust loads.

10. A spindle as set forth in claim 8 whereina fixed support is provided for said spindle, a ring is mounted on said fixed support and said cover member is mounted on said ring.

11. A spindle as set forth in claim 10 wherein a spring member mounted upon said fixed support holds said cover member upon said ring.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,144,618 6/15 Smith 5718 1,386,350 8/21 Montgomery et a1 57l8 1,485,662 3/24 Arnhorst 57-18 1,970,228 8/34 Getchell 57-46 2,207,896 8/40 Rothschild.

2,387,260 10/45 Hargreaves et al 57135 2,798,396 7/57 Lee 308-174 2,832,969 5/58 Kistler 308-174 X FOREIGN PATENTS 644,796 10/50 Great Britain.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A TEXTILE SPINDLE COMPRISING A HOLLOW VERTICALLY MOUNTED SPINDLE, AN UPPER THRUST AND SELF-ALIGNING BEARING FOR SAID SPINDLE, A RESILIENTLY MOUNTED BOTTOM BEARING FOR SAID SPINDLE, A COVER MEMBER FOR SAID BOTTOM BEARING IN WHICH SAID BOTTOM BEARING IS MOUNTED TO RE- 